The invention concerns a water draining fixture for plumbing applications with which light is fed into a water jet emanating from an outlet opening of a fitting head, with a water conduit guiding the water to the outlet opening and with a light guide which guides the light, separated from the water conduit, from a light source located outside of the water draining fixture up to the outlet and out of at least one light outlet opening.
A water draining fixture of this kind is e.g. known in the art through DE 31 35 861 C2.
In the following, the designation "light" refers both to visible light as well as to infra-red light (IR) and ultra-violet light (UV).
WO 95/29300 describes a water draining fixture with which light is fed into water jets exiting from outlet openings. Towards this end, light in the fixture head is fed via a transparent window into the water flowing through the fixture head so that light can also exit out of the outlet opening for the water. However, the major portion of the light fed into the water can not exit via the outlet openings. This substantially reduces the intensity of the exiting light. In addition, the amount of light fed is reduced by calcium deposits on the transparent window to thereby cause a reduction in the intensity of the exiting light. Special windows are required for feeding-in IR or UV light. Since an interrupted water jet can not guide light, the water jet of the conventional drain fixture can only be brightened by the light guided within it until it is interrupted by the formation of drops. Towards this end, additional light sources are provided for on the fixture head which surround the exiting water jet in a ring-shaped fashion to increase luminosity of continuous water jets. This leads to annoying glare effects.
In the conventional water draining fixture known from DE 31 35 861 C2, light exiting out of optical fibers, a plurality of which are disposed in a ring-shaped fashion about the periphery of the water outlet opening, is fed into a water jet exiting from a central water outlet opening of a fixture head. Since the light in the fixture head is not guided through the water rather through the optical fibers, and is first input after the water exits, the light intensity is not reduced and only minimal calcification problems can occur. The light exits via the individual light guides substantially parallel to the water jet so that the water jet is surrounded in a ring-shaped fashion by individual light beams. Since it is not shielded, the exiting light can lead to the observation of glare by the user. The light does not therefore serve for illuminating the exiting water jet, rather for illuminating the space below the water draining fixture. For this reason, the water jet, surrounded by the light, is rather dark.
In contrast thereto, it is the underlying purpose of the present invention to further improve a water draining fixture of the above mentioned kind in such a fashion that light can be introduced into an exiting water jet with high intensity and with as little glare as possible.